A Staten Island ferry boat crashed into the St. George terminal at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, injuring as many as 37 people according to the office of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The passengers got a mere 2 seconds warning, when crew members shouted “brace yourself, brace yourself”.
The boat is the Andrew J. Barberi, and was previously involved in a 2003 crash that killed 11 people and injured 42 according to the U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Barbara Miller.
Miller reports that there were 252 passengers and 18 crew members on the vessel at the time of this morning’s crash. It is believed that mechanical problem with the throttle caused the captain to lose control of the boat’s engine. An eyewitness reported that the boat seemed to speed up dramatically rather than slow down before the impact – listen to his comments on the video below.
Scores of FDNY rigs and ambulances swarmed the terminal to transport the injured and provide on-scene treatment to those less seriously hurt. One woman was seriously injured, and 17 others were taken to area hospitals.
Five ferries make the 5.2 mile run between Staten Island and Manhattan, transporting 65,000 passengers daily.
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